Gillier. But she was not only angry with him. She stared at the
rising and falling water, clasping her hands tightly together. "I will
be calm!" she was saying to herself. "I will be calm, mistress of
myself."

But suddenly she got up, went swiftly across the court to the garden
entrance, and called out:

"Susan! Claude! Where are you?"

Her voice sounded to her sharp and piercing in the night.

"What is it, Charmian?" answered Claude's voice from the distance.

"I'm going to bed. It's late. Monsieur Gillier has gone."

"Coming!" answered Claude's voice.

Charmian retreated to the house.

As she came into the drawing-room she looked at her watch. It was barely
ten o'clock. In a moment Susan Fleet entered, followed by Claude.
Susan's calm eyes glanced at Charmian's face. Then she said, in her
quiet, agreeable voice:

"I'm going to my room. I have two or three letters to write, and I shall
read a little before going to bed. It isn't really very late, but I
daresay you are tired."

She took Charmian's hand and held it for an instant. And during that
instant Charmian felt much calmer.

"Good-night, Susan dear. Monsieur Gillier asked me to say good-night to
you for him."

Susan did not kiss her, said good-night to Claude, and went quietly
away.

"What is it?" Claude said, directly she had gone. "What's the matter,
Charmian? Why did Gillier go away so early?"

"Let us go upstairs," she answered.

Remembering the sound of her voice in the court, she strove to keep it
natural, even gentle, now. Susan's recent touch had helped her a little.

"All right," he answered.

"Come into my sitting-room for a minute," she said, when they were in
the narrow gallery which ran round the drawing-room on the upper story
of the house.

Next to her bedroom Charmian had a tiny room, a sort of nook, where she
wrote her letters and did accounts.

"Well, what is it?" Claude asked again, when he had followed her into
this room, which was lit only by a hanging antique lamp.

"How could you show the libretto to Madame Sennier?" said Charmian. "How
could you be so mad as to do such a thing?"

As she finished speaking she sat down on the little divan in the
embrasure of the small grated window.

"What do you mean?" he exclaimed. "I have never shown the libretto to
Madame Sennier. What could put such an idea into your head?"

"But you must have shown it!"

"Charmian, I have this moment told you that I haven't."

"She has